The problem with Android text to speech synthesis engine in versions 2.3 and till 4.1 Jelly Bean, is that while very good implemented it sounded very robotic, artificial and in certain areas it remained almost unusable. Though there are alternatives on the Store, most require that you pay a good amount to use it.

With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Google has greatly improved the Android text to speech engine that sounds more natural as ever before. Installing it on your Ice Cream Sandwich device should be easy enough, though you need a rooted device and a R/W System.

1. You first need to download the .zip folder with all the files from Jelly Bean we’ve place here. In the folder you will also find the original ICS backup files in case something goes wrong.

2. Use a file manager to gain access to the system folder and set permissions. I recommend X-plore or ES File manager, though you can pick anything you like.

3. As we’ve shown you in the video, navigate to the System/App folder and delete GoogleTTS.apk.

4. From the .zip folder/tts copy the GoogleTTS.apk to the System/App and once it’s copied, long press it and set permissions like in the image above (RW-R-R).

5. Copy the two .api files in the System/lib folder. One of them will overwrite the one already there. You can either delete it before, or let the new one move over. After you’ve copied the files, find them in the folder and set permissions RW-R-R

Reboot the device and you should have a working Google Jelly Bean TTS on your ICS device. Go to you’re device’s Settings/Language & input/text-to-speech output and select Google Text-to-speech. This method will not work on Gingerbread as the API is different. Don’t forget about the backup files in case you want to restore. Below a short video guide as to what you need to do.

Disclamer – Androidpipe.com will not be held responsible for damage you might cause to your device. Follow the guide and everything should be OK.